Tesla Inc. closed at $321.55, down 1.77%.

Options activity showed a notable bearish skew in large trades despite a Call/Put volume ratio of 1.39. A significant deep out-of-the-money put purchase dominated the flow, signaling long-dated downside protection, while a single near-the-money put sale provided a minor bullish counterpoint. The overall pattern reflects traders positioning for limited upside and elevated downside risk.

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Options Indicators

TSLA’s implied volatility stands at 47.66%, while its IV percentile is just 13.55%, indicating that current option volatility is on the low side relative to its own recent history and that options are cheaply priced rather than expensive. With the IV/HV ratio at 0.74, implied volatility is also running below historical realized volatility, suggesting the options market is assigning relatively restrained forward volatility expectations. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.39.

Large Trades

A PUT buy worth $0.02 million was the largest displayed large trade, with 2,434 contracts bought at the 275.00 strike expiring on 2026-08-10. With TSLA referenced at 321.55, this put was out-of-the-money at execution, making it a bearish position that likely reflects downside speculation or portfolio protection against a longer-dated decline. Because the trade involved outright put buying, the buyer paid premium to gain convex downside exposure, signaling willingness to spend capital for protection or leveraged bearish positioning at a strike meaningfully below the current stock price.

A PUT sale worth $0.00 million was the other displayed large trade, with 1,380 contracts sold at the 320.00 strike expiring on 2026-08-05. With the stock at 321.55, this put was slightly out-of-the-money, so the seller was expressing a moderately bullish view, likely seeking premium income while positioning for TSLA to remain above the strike into expiration. Strategically, short put selling at a near-the-money level suggests confidence in near-term price stability or a willingness to accumulate shares effectively at the strike if assigned, in exchange for collecting option premium.

Overall sentiment was bearish. Although there was one bullish large trade in the form of near-the-money put selling, the broader large-trade flow was dominated by bearish activity, led by the sizable long-dated out-of-the-money put purchase and reinforced by additional call-selling activity in the full tape. Taken together, the pattern points to traders being more focused on limiting upside expectations and protecting against downside risk than on positioning for a sustained rally in TSLA.

Strategy Reference

For those seeking premium income with a low assignment probability, selling the 250.00 strike put for a similar long-dated expiry could offer a wider buffer below the current price while capitalizing on the bearish flow and low IV percentile.